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Lancashire Hubs Open Their Doors to Victims of Crime

Lancashire Victim Services are launching their Hubs at events for partners and stakeholders this month, to offer emotional support, information and practical help to victims and witnesses of crime.

The events, opened by Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw in Preston, Blackpool, Accrington and Lancaster, will serve to share information about the service with local organisations, to hear how victims are already benefiting and to provide the opportunity to meet the local teams.

The multi-crime teams working from the hubs are made up of independent victim advocates who can offer support following any type of crime. Specialist support is available from independent domestic violence advisors, independent sexual violence advisors, children and young people case workers and hate crime case workers.

The launches follow two years of developing a service model to meet the needs of all victims in Lancashire.

Clive Grunshaw invited bids from interested organisations to deliver a new, integrated service across the county and, following a legal tender process, the contract to deliver the service was awarded to Victim Support earlier this year.

Talking at the launch event in Preston, Mr Grunshaw said: “I am delighted to see the launch of the Preston Hub. Making sure that expert support is available locally was a key aspect in commissioning the service.

“The Preston Hub is one of four launching in Lancashire this month and while the building is located in Preston, support will be delivered across the whole of Central and West Lancashire, Chorley and South Ribble. Lancashire Victim Services’ outreach support means that victim advocates and specialists are able to travel to meet people in locations that work for them.

“I want to make sure that all victims of crime can access the specialist support they need in a way that suits them best and the fantastic team working from the new Hub will make sure this happens.”

“No one should feel alone or unsupported after being a victim of crime and through the hub people can access support locally to help them recover.

“We have a team of experts on hand to provide emotional support and help, no matter what type of crime they have been affected by.

“We don’t ration our support, and we don’t make judgements – we just want people to know we’re here, to talk, to listen, for advice and for help, whenever they need someone to talk to.”

The Lancaster Hub will operate across Lancaster, Morecambe and South Ribble. The Blackpool Hub will serve residents across the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre areas and East Lancashire will be covered from the Hub based in Accrington.